You know, Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays through out my life, from my adolescence to adulthood. Every year, since I can remember, I have always stayed the night at my Grandma & Grandpa Bowman's house the night before the big day, and then woke up super early to start the cooking (stuffing, turkey, etc.), accompanied by the Macy's Day Parade of course. This literally went up until last year. And I tell you, this past Thanksgiving (4 days ago) things changed. Being across the country, this tradition has ceased, for the time being. To be honest, it was pretty sad waking up in a cozy bed, rather then the floor in my grandparents house to the smell of simmering butter and onions in the pan.
But as they say, when one door closes, another opens.
This lady, well her name is Shannon Colwick (one on the right), she invited us to travel with her to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with her family, since we would not be going to AZ. Her two kids came too. They are awesome.
And the journey began.
A 7 hour drive mixed with bathroom stops, fast food indulging, excluding Chik-Fil-A because it is not considered fast food, and a ridiculous detour to find a gas station to find that the pumps were not working due to ice, landed us on the front door steps of a home with open doors. To be completely honest, I was a little nervous. Not because I was going to spend extended time with a co-worker, cause we all know how that sometimes turns out, nor because I felt like I was intruding on family tradition but because it can sometimes feel awkward being the only two people not "part of the family". The only two out of 16 who knew nobody.
But when you are greeted with a hug from almost everyone in the family, ushered in with coffee, bags taken from your hands, and a bedroom to yourself, its hard to not feel like "part of the family". And the remainder of the trip was nothing short of an extension of love and sacrifice so that we would feel at home. The Moll's and the Colwick's opened up their home to my wife and I, and I will forever be grateful for the Thanksgiving that they gave us. There is so much in this world and in our lives that we fail to give thanks for. Friends are one of those, and I got to extend my family a little bit further this weekend.
If you get to the point of reading this, thank you so much for what your family did for us. It wasn't just a simple act of allowing us to come into your home, two strangers, eat your food, play with your baby, play your instruments, drive us around, and make arrangements for us. It was the way that you showed Christ in what you did. It was the way you showed His love through your actions towards people you didn't even know. I do not know when we will see you all again, but I promise you this, my gratitude for your family is overflowing. You are the perfect example of who Jesus was calling us to be in John 15..."This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." Your love has shown me how to love, and has modeled for me the kind of home and family I want to be.
Thank you so much.
Excuse me while I wipe my tears.
Well, if you can even top that, Chicago, the city, was awesome! Mercedes and I had a blast walking all over the place...you know doing tourist things, like staring up upon the skyscrapers for seconds, allowing people to pick pocket us when ever they pleased. I even asked when a train was boarding, as the time flashed in front of my face and the conductor looked at me like an idiot.
We went to the bean...
And to Willis Tower...to the top for $20? Yeah, right...ain't no body got time for that.
This cool sign...
And finally one of the best things we experienced in the city....a deep dish pizza.
I mean this pizza took 45 minutes to cook! And it was smothered in one of the best tasting sauces I have ever tasted, and filled with this mozzarella. We couldn't even finish it...and we had left overs...
Me: Hey man want some pizza?
Homeless man: Yeeeeeeeeee dude. (As he zips up his pants from peeing on the front of a convenient store in the centre of downtown Chicago).
Quite odd, but the man was hungry nonetheless.
Then we came across this guy right here....playing the sax like a boss.
He has so much spirit in him. Lively and joyful just playing Christmas songs. It was awesome and was joy to listen to him.
Lastly for our trip, we got to take a train into the city from Naperville where we were staying. It is about a 50 minute train ride in. Not bad at all, considering it was a train, with concrete seats, but not bad. This was the view coming in...
We are sitting there on the train, plenty of open seats all around us on that car, and this man decides to sit right next to Mercedes and I. And for a long time he didn't say a word. Then he speaks up,
"Do you know when the Harlem exit is coming up?"
I replied, not being from the area,
"No sir, I am sorry."
"Thanks", was his reply. And the silence began again. A few moments later, we noticed him holding his phone out about a half an inch from his face as he tried to read it. I leaned over and stated,
"I looked it up. You have about 6 more stops till Harlem."
"Thank you sir", he replied as he opened up a bag of Doritos and began to enjoy his ride.
About 15 minutes later, he leans over and says,
"Excuse me, are you guys married?" Thrown off by his question, I replied with a stumbled "Yes." And he went on to talk about how the Spirit was moving in him that morning to talk to us. He asked if we were believers and went on to discuss his life and the events that followed. That he had, had 3 brain tumors removed in the past. That he was born and raised in Chicago. That he had a Doctorate in Foolishness as he chuckled. That he was heading into get a job. And about ever 30 seconds during this talk he would say,
"Mmmmm Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy", and out came Scripture. He probably quoted 25-30 Scriptures on that train ride, and then when Harlem came he was up and gone. He left us with this simple statement as he left the train, "What encouragement do you have for me today? See there are negative and positive charges running this train right now, as their are negative and positive forces driving you. Which force will you follow?" And I was left speechless...I poured out something I can not remember and he was gone.
Back to the quote from the beginning of this blog...the Francis Chan one..."If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount that I can scoop into my little can."
Take time and read that. Read it again. And again. Do you understand this simple, yet fairly complex quote?
See I can try and try and try to fully comprehend God...I can so desperately try, but the truth is I can never fully understand God. If I could, then He wouldn't be God.
But let me tell you something, going back to every single one of the experiences I talked about in this blog...the Moll's, the homeless man playing sax, and the man on the train...I have added a little more to my can on who God is, and who I am suppose to be.
God is a lot of things, that I will never fully understand until the other side, but what I do understand is the way people pursue their lives with the intent of glorifying God in every situation, no matter the circumstances. NT Wright says, "It's not whether Jesus is God, but what God is doing in and through Jesus". And the awesome thing is that God is doing that same thing through you. God is using all of us for something...we are apart of a big story. Just like a word is a part of a sentence; a sentence a part of a paragraph; a paragraph a part of big story. Every one has a purpose that God has created in them from before they were created.
And through these people I saw Jesus...I saw God working in and through their lives to bring joy to others. To bring encouragement and love. And I am thankful for that. I have begun to pray that God would open my eyes to see His works around me and in my life, and I would ask you to do the same. Don't get so lost in this world that you can no longer see the majestic beauty of your creator. Which force are you going to follow?
I leave you with this simple lyric from Elevation Worship...
Now the party has begun,
Come and celebrate this love,
Cause our God already won
Now were dancing to the sound of Freedom.
I pray that you believe that today and that you will begin to see that you are a part of this big story, this party. You don't have to do anything but show this love to others. Be Jesus to people and allow God to work through you, bringing glory to Him in the good times and the bad.
Until Next Time,
-JTD-
**Pregnancy Update:
6 Weeks to 30 weeks...
Dang she fine...and she mine.
Love this. And why is Mercedes so cute? ahhhhh
ReplyDeleteYou, my friend, are a writer. God bless you.
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